Physiological responses of the diatoms Thalassiosira weissflogii and Thalassiosira pseudonana to nitrogen starvation and high light

Abstract

As oceans warm, the depth of the upper mixed layer is predicted to decrease, resulting in insufficient nutrient supply and higher solar radiation for phytoplankton. In order to understand the photophysiological responses of the key eukaryotic phytoplankton diatoms to high light and nutrient limitation, we grew two diatoms, Thalassiosira weissflogii and Thalassiosira pseudonana under N starvation conditions and exposed them to high visible light. It showed that the large-sized diatom T. weissflogii can maintain photosynthetic activity for a longer period of time under nitrogen starvation as compared with the small-sized diatom T. pseudonana. The electron transfer reaction was inhibited in both diatoms and the fast closing of reaction centers promoted the development of QB non-reducing PSII centers, thus facilitated the rapid induction of NPQ, however, the induction of NPQ depended on the degree of N starvation. N starvation exacerbated the photoinhibition caused by high light. The smaller-sized T. pseudonana had a higher σi value and was more sensitive to high-light, but its PSII repair rate was also higher. In contrast, T. weissflogii was more tolerant to high light with a lower σi value, but the tolerance was severely reduced under N-starvation. This study provides helpful insight into how climate change variables impact diatom's photosynthetic physiology.